Stairway Remodel, Before & After

I recently came across some photos of our stairway renovation. I can’t believe this was completed in fall of 2007. It seems like we just did it!

Some of these photos are so embarrassing! Oh well. There used to be drywall on the left of the stairs, and a low, odd looking piece of wood trim. To the right, there was a WALL that we demolished. Yes, a whole wall. We pulled that down, to make the two rooms at the front of our house more open.

You can see Handy Man’s legs and feet here, ha ha!

What a mess it was, knocking down that wall. I guess I didn’t take any photos of that part of the project. There was drywall dust everywhere! Then we took a break from renovations and I had to look at this ugly, carpeted staircase for a while. Yuck!

It’s not that I hate carpet, but this was all dirty and worn out, and we just prefer wood floors and stairs.

Handy man started working on the treads. I was getting so excited at this point!

I painted the risers with a glossy white paint.

There was a lot of drywall patching and painting to do on this side.

And then…the handrails…Didn’t Handy Man do a great job? This would have cost a fortune if we hired someone to do it. Although the materials for this weren’t cheap, at least we didn’t have to add labor costs.

Hey, you can see our Christmas tree in the background in this one! We finished it in fall 2007, but it wasn’t until December that I realized that I needed to take finished photos.

Like this:

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This is exactly what I want. I know wrought iron is all the rage right now but I love the charm of wood balusters! Thanks for posting this!

We’re having our first house built but unfortunately, we got under contract 1/3 into construction and the builders refuse to allow us to upgrade into the open rail system even though I cried and begged literally. Bummer! So I kinda talked my husband into having the drywalled side of our future stairs opened up as soon as construction is done but please give us some info about cost for the materials. I know you saved money from paying someone to do it but can you give us an idea how much materials cost and how long it took for you guys to complete it? Thank you so much!

Great job!!! I just showed this to my husband and we totally want to re-do our own stairs now!! Our big question right now is, how much did this project cost you?? Trying to decide if this is a project we can do this Fall or if we need to wait until Tax Return season! 🙂

Sarah, I’ll have to talk to Handy Man and get back to you on the cost. We do keep track, we just have to look it up. There was a lot of physical labor (which is free, if you do it yourself of course.) The most expensive parts were the woodwork for the stairs, and the balusters.

I just had one of those “Ah” moments. Looking at your pics and looking at my house, feels alot like looking at the same space. I really like the changes you made, going to have to put this on my wish list:)

Thanks for the comments! Handy Man and I are a great team. We plan out the projects together…I paint & decorate, and he gets all the heavy construction work! Hey, sometimes I’ll hand him a nail or a screwdriver…I’m not completely useless! 🙂

The stairs are gorgeous! I’m visiting for the first time and think we have a lot in common as I also live in a household with a handyman while I’m the crafty one. I’d love to do stairs like this one day, so maybe we could split the work so we can both do the part we’re good at : ) Thanks for sharing!